flu vaccine

The first U.S. facility to use a faster and more flexible technology to make influenza vaccine was dedicated today, as part of an initiative that could provide vaccine supplies sooner in an influenza pandemic.

The plant in Holly Springs, N.C., can create vaccine using cultured animal cells instead of the conventional process of using fertilized eggs.

The facility is a public-private partnership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.

This partnership will be maintained under contract for at least 25 years.

BOSTON (MedPage Today) -- Seasonal influenza vaccines appeared safe in children with the most severe allergies to egg protein, according to a prospective trial reported here.

(MedPage Today) -- Flu vaccines work, but not as well as they might and there are significant gaps in the evidence of their efficacy, researchers found.

(MedPage Today) -- A trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) that contains the MF59 adjuvant is more effective than a nonadjuvanted vaccine at preventing influenza illness in infants and young children, a randomized trial showed.

(MedPage Today) -- A single dose of an adjuvanted vaccine against the pandemic H1N1 flu was highly effective at preventing hospital admission for children with confirmed infection, researchers reported.

(Brown University) Black nursing home residents are less likely than their white counterparts to receive flu shots, even within the same nursing home, a new analysis finds.

Overall, vaccinations have yet to reach the 90 percent level sought by Medicare and Medicaid. In most cases patients go unvaccinated because they refuse the shots, suggesting that for some patients, homes may have to improve how they communicate the benefits of the flu vaccine.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's flu vaccine time again - and some lucky shot-seekers will find that the needle has shrunk....

Even if they got one last year, most children should get another dose of the flu vaccine before flu season begins, according to the latest recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

(Infectious Diseases Society of America) Immunizations, including a yearly flu vaccine, are the best way to protect children from life-threatening pneumonia, according to new guidelines from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

(MedPage Today) -- Race and the presence of hematologic abnormalities were among the factors influencing response to influenza vaccine among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, a prospective study found.